Dr. Friedwardt Winterberg

Professor of Physics, University of Nevada, Reno, 1955-present (theoretical physics); University of Nevada / Desert Research Institute from the 1960s

Case File

BornJune 12, 1929 - Berlin, Germany

AliasesFriedwardt Winterberg, F. Winterberg

Service1955-present (theoretical physics); University of Nevada / Desert Research Institute from the 1960s

ClearanceAEC clearance (granted 1970 for thermonuclear research); RAND top-secret clearance denied 1960 over citizenship

Summary

German-American theoretical physicist who earned his doctorate under Werner Heisenberg and became a pioneer of inertial confinement fusion, proposing in the 1960s that thermonuclear micro-explosions could be ignited by intense electron and ion beams. A longtime professor at the University of Nevada and the Desert Research Institute in Reno, he is known within UAP research for a single 1976 paper for the Center for UFO Studies that examined whether macroscopic bodies approaching zero rest mass - via hypothetical negative-mass magnetic monopoles - could account for the reported kinematics of some UFO cases. That paper is notably skeptical: Winterberg judged the probability that UFOs represent extraterrestrial visitation to be 'almost nil' and favored a psychopathological explanation for most reports, while arguing the underlying physics was not strictly forbidden. His later correspondence with Hal Puthoff and Eric Davis on zero-point-field energy and induced gravity, together with his mentor relationship with Edward Teller, places his theoretical work at the edge of mainstream physics that propulsion-focused UAP researchers continue to cite.

Roles

-Professor of Physics, University of Nevada, Reno
-Research Professor, Desert Research Institute (Reno)
-Theoretical physicist - inertial confinement fusion and nuclear pulse propulsion
-Author - The Physical Principles of Thermonuclear Explosive Devices (1981)

Organizations

University of Nevada, RenoDesert Research InstituteMax Planck Institute for Physics (Goettingen)

Education

-Doctorate in Physics under Werner Heisenberg, Max Planck Institute for Physics, Goettingen, 1955
-Studied physics at Frankfurt and Goettingen

Early Career

-Conducted doctoral research in theoretical physics under Werner Heisenberg at the Max Planck Institute in Goettingen
-Early proponent of testing general relativity using precise atomic clocks placed in earth orbit, an approach later echoed in satellite-based tests
-Emigrated to the United States and joined the physics faculty in Nevada, focusing on controlled thermonuclear fusion and plasma physics
-Developed foundational concepts in inertial confinement fusion and nuclear pulse propulsion through the 1960s

Cross-References

Research Publications

The Physical Possibility of Macroscopic Bodies Approaching Zero Rest Mass and the UFO Problem

F. Winterberg · 1976 CUFOS Conference Proceedings · 1976